GERMANY WAS UNITED ON OCTOBER 3, 1990. This event came after
forty-five years of division that had begun with the partition of
Germany into four occupation zones following its defeat in 1945 by the
Four Powers--the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
Once a powerful nation, Germany lay vanquished at the end of World War
II. The war's human cost had been staggering. Millions of Germans had
died or had suffered terribly during the conflict, both in combat and on
the home front. Intensive Allied bombing raids, invasions, and
subsequent social upheaval had forced millions of Germans from their
homes. Not since the ravages of the Thirty Years' War had Germans
experienced such misery. Beyond the physical destruction, Germans had
been confronted with the moral devastation of defeat.

Germans refer to the immediate aftermath of the war as the Stunde
Null (Zero Hour), the point in time when Germany ceased to exist as
a state and the rebuilding of the country would begin. At first, Germany
was administered by the Four Powers, each with its own occupation zone.
In time, Germans themselves began to play a role in the governing of
these zones. Political parties were formed, and, within months of the
war's end, the first elections were held. Although most people were
concerned with mere physical survival, much was accomplished in
rebuilding cities, fashioning a new economy, and integrating the
millions of refugees from the eastern areas of Germany that had been
lost after the war.

Overshadowing these events within Germany, however, was the gradual
emergence of the Cold War during the second half of the 1940s. By the
decade's end, the two superpowers--the United States and the Soviet
Union--had faced off in an increasingly ideological confrontation. The
Iron Curtain between them cut Germany in two. Although the Allies'
original plans envisioned that Germany would remain a single state,
Western and Eastern concepts of political, social, and economic
organization gradually led the three Western zones to join together,
becoming separate from the Soviet zone and ultimately leading to the
formation in 1949 of two German states. The three Western occupation
zones became the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany), and
the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East
Germany).

During the next four decades, the two states led separate existences.
West Germany joined the Western community of nations, while East Germany
became the westernmost part of the Soviet empire. The two German states,
with a common language and history, were separated by the mutual
suspicion and hostility of the superpowers. In the mid-1950s, both
German states rearmed. The FRG's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, became a
vital part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The GDR's
National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee--NVA) became a key
component of the Warsaw Pact. The construction of the Berlin Wall in
1961 by the GDR further divided the two states.

In West Germany, by the early 1950s a system of parliamentary
democracy with free and contending political parties was firmly
established. The Christian Democratic Union (Christlich Demokratische
Union--CDU), along with its sister party, the Christian Social Union
(Christlich-Soziale Union--CSU), led the coalitions that governed West
Germany at the national level for two decades until late 1969. In that
year, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei
Deutschlands--SPD) formed the first of a series of coalition governments
with the Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei--FDP) that
governed the country until 1982. Late that year, the SPD was ousted from
power when the CDU/CSU and the FDP formed a new coalition government.
These parties ruled for the rest of the 1980s. As successful, however,
as West Germany's adoption of democratic politics had been after 1945,
the country's economic recovery was so strong that it was commonly
referred to as the "economic miracle " (Wirtschaftswunder
). By the 1960s, West Germany was among the world's wealthiest
countries, and by the 1990s, Germany's economy and central bank played
the leading role in Europe's economy.

East Germany was not so fortunate. A socialist dictatorship was put
in place and carefully watched by its Soviet masters. As in the Soviet
Union, political opposition was suppressed, the press censored, and the
economy owned and controlled by the state. East Germany's economy
performed modestly when compared with that of West Germany, but of all
the socialist economies it was the most successful. Unlike West Germany,
East Germany was not freely supported by its citizens. Indeed, force was
needed to keep East Germans from fleeing to the West. Although some
consolidation of the GDR was assured by the construction of the Berlin
Wall, the GDR remained an artificial entity maintained by Soviet
military power. Once this support was withdrawn, the GDR collapsed.

During the four decades of division, relations between the two German
states were reserved and sometimes hostile. Despite their common
language and history, the citizens of the two states had limited direct
contact with one another. At times, during the 1960s, for example,
contact was reduced to a minimum. During the 1970s, however, the two
peoples began to mix more freely as their governments negotiated
treaties that made relations between the two states more open. During
the 1980s, although relations continued to improve and contacts between
the two peoples became more frequent, persons attempting to flee from
East Germany still died along its mined borders, GDR officials continued
to harass and arrest dissidents, and the Socialist Unity Party of
Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands--SED) rigidly
controlled political life.

A key reason for the collapse of the GDR was the poor performance of
its state-owned and centrally directed economy. The efforts of Soviet
president Mikhail Gorbachev, beginning in the mid-1980s, to liberalize
the Soviet Union and reform its economy were met with hostility by the
GDR's top leadership. Word of these measures nevertheless reached East
German grassroots opposition groups. Encouraged by the waves of reform
in the Soviet Union and in neighboring socialist states, opposition in
the East German population grew and became more and more vocal, despite
increased state repression. By the second half of 1989, the East German
opposition consisted of a number of groups with a variety of aims and
was strong enough to stage large demonstrations.

The massive flow of East Germans to the West through neighboring
socialist countries in the summer and fall of 1989, particularly through
Hungary, was telling evidence that the GDR did not have the support of
its citizens. Public opposition to the regime became ever more open and
demanding. In late 1989, confronted with crushing economic problems,
unable to control the borders of neighboring states, and told by the
Soviet leadership not to expect outside help in quelling domestic
protest, the GDR leadership resigned in the face of massive and
constantly growing public demonstrations. After elections in the spring
of 1990, the critics of the SED regime took over the government. On
October 3, 1990, the GDR ceased to exist, and its territory and people
were joined to the FRG. The division of Germany that had lasted decades
was ended.

in 1681. French troops also fought on German soil during the
War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14). In addition to these military
actions, France formed alliances with some German states, most
significantly with Bavaria, which sought support against neighboring
Austria. The Ottoman Empire also posed a threat. In 1683 its forces
besieged Vienna. The Germans ultimately were successful against the
Ottoman Empire, and after the Treaty of Passarowitz of 1718, the Turks
were no longer a danger.

, Schleswig-Holstein,
some smaller states, and the city of Frankfurt. The German Confederation
was replaced by the North German Confederation and was furnished with
both a constitution and a parliament. Austria was excluded from Germany.
South German states outside the confederation--Baden, Württemberg, and
Bavaria--were tied to Prussia by military alliances.

Bismarck's military and political successes were remarkable, but the
first had been achieved at considerable risk, and the second were by no
means complete. Luck had played a part in the decisive victory at the
Battle of Königgrätz (Hradec Králóve in the present-day Czech
Republic); otherwise, the war might have lasted much longer than it did.
None of the larger German states had supported either Prussia's war or
the formation of the North German Confederation led by Prussia. The
states that formed what is often called the Third Germany, that is,
Germany exclusive of Austria and Prussia, did not desire to come under
the control of either of those states. None of them wished to be pulled
into a war that showed little likelihood of benefiting any of them. In
the Seven Weeks' War, the support they gave Austria had been lukewarm.

In 1870 Bismarck engineered another war, this time against France.
The conflict would become known to history as the Franco-Prussian War.
Nationalistic fervor was ignited by the promised annexation of Lorraine
and Alsace, which had belonged to the Holy Roman Empire and had been
seized by France in the seventeenth century. With this goal in sight,
the south German states eagerly joined in the war against the country
that had come to be seen as Germany's traditional enemy. Bismarck's
major war aim--the voluntary entry of the south German states into a
constitutional German nation-state--occurred during the patriotic frenzy
generated by stunning military victories against French forces in the
fall of 1870. Months before a peace treaty was signed with France in May
1871, a united Germany was established as the German Empire, and the
Prussian king, Wilhelm I, was crowned its emperor in the Hall of Mirrors
at Versailles.

mutinied. They
refused to go out on what they considered a suicide mission against
British naval forces. The revolt grew quickly and within a week appeared
to be burgeoning into a revolution that could well overthrow the
established social order. On November 9, the kaiser was forced to
abdicate, and the SPD proclaimed a republic. A provisional government
headed by Ebert promised elections for a national assembly to draft a
new constitution. In an attempt to control the popular uprising, Ebert
agreed to back the army if it would suppress the revolt. On November 11,
the government signed the armistice that ended the war. Germany's loses
included about 1.6 million dead and more than 4 million wounded.

Signed in June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles limited Germany to an
army of 100,000 soldiers. The treaty also stipulated that the Rhineland
be demilitarized and occupied by the western Allies for fifteen years
and that Germany surrender Alsace-Lorraine, northern Schleswig-Holstein,
a portion of western Prussia that became known as the Polish Corridor
because it gave Poland access to the Baltic, and all overseas colonies.
Also, an Allied Reparations Commission was established and charged with
setting the amount of war-damage payments that would be demanded of
Germany. The treaty also included the "war guilt clause,"
ascribing responsibility for World War I to Germany and Austria-Hungary.

GERMANY WAS UNITED ON OCTOBER 3, 1990. This event came after
forty-five years of division that had begun with the partition of
Germany into four occupation zones following its defeat in 1945 by the
Four Powers--the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.
Once a powerful nation, Germany lay vanquished at the end of World War
II. The war's human cost had been staggering. Millions of Germans had
died or had suffered terribly during the conflict, both in combat and on
the home front. Intensive Allied bombing raids, invasions, and
subsequent social upheaval had forced millions of Germans from their
homes. Not since the ravages of the Thirty Years' War had Germans
experienced such misery. Beyond the physical destruction, Germans had
been confronted with the moral devastation of defeat.

Germans refer to the immediate aftermath of the war as the Stunde
Null (Zero Hour), the point in time when Germany ceased to exist as
a state and the rebuilding of the country would begin. At first, Germany
was administered by the Four Powers, each with its own occupation zone.
In time, Germans themselves began to play a role in the governing of
these zones. Political parties were formed, and, within months of the
war's end, the first elections were held. Although most people were
concerned with mere physical survival, much was accomplished in
rebuilding cities, fashioning a new economy, and integrating the
millions of refugees from the eastern areas of Germany that had been
lost after the war.

Overshadowing these events within Germany, however, was the gradual
emergence of the Cold War during the second half of the 1940s. By the
decade's end, the two superpowers--the United States and the Soviet
Union--had faced off in an increasingly ideological confrontation. The
Iron Curtain between them cut Germany in two. Although the Allies'
original plans envisioned that Germany would remain a single state,
Western and Eastern concepts of political, social, and economic
organization gradually led the three Western zones to join together,
becoming separate from the Soviet zone and ultimately leading to the
formation in 1949 of two German states. The three Western occupation
zones became the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany), and
the Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East
Germany).

During the next four decades, the two states led separate existences.
West Germany joined the Western community of nations, while East Germany
became the westernmost part of the Soviet empire. The two German states,
with a common language and history, were separated by the mutual
suspicion and hostility of the superpowers. In the mid-1950s, both
German states rearmed. The FRG's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, became a
vital part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The GDR's
National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee--NVA) became a key
component of the Warsaw Pact. The construction of the Berlin Wall in
1961 by the GDR further divided the two states.

In West Germany, by the early 1950s a system of parliamentary
democracy with free and contending political parties was firmly
established. The Christian Democratic Union (Christlich Demokratische
Union--CDU), along with its sister party, the Christian Social Union
(Christlich-Soziale Union--CSU), led the coalitions that governed West
Germany at the national level for two decades until late 1969. In that
year, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei
Deutschlands--SPD) formed the first of a series of coalition governments
with the Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei--FDP) that
governed the country until 1982. Late that year, the SPD was ousted from
power when the CDU/CSU and the FDP formed a new coalition government.
These parties ruled for the rest of the 1980s. As successful, however,
as West Germany's adoption of democratic politics had been after 1945,
the country's economic recovery was so strong that it was commonly
referred to as the "economic miracle " (Wirtschaftswunder
). By the 1960s, West Germany was among the world's wealthiest
countries, and by the 1990s, Germany's economy and central bank played
the leading role in Europe's economy.

East Germany was not so fortunate. A socialist dictatorship was put
in place and carefully watched by its Soviet masters. As in the Soviet
Union, political opposition was suppressed, the press censored, and the
economy owned and controlled by the state. East Germany's economy
performed modestly when compared with that of West Germany, but of all
the socialist economies it was the most successful. Unlike West Germany,
East Germany was not freely supported by its citizens. Indeed, force was
needed to keep East Germans from fleeing to the West. Although some
consolidation of the GDR was assured by the construction of the Berlin
Wall, the GDR remained an artificial entity maintained by Soviet
military power. Once this support was withdrawn, the GDR collapsed.

During the four decades of division, relations between the two German
states were reserved and sometimes hostile. Despite their common
language and history, the citizens of the two states had limited direct
contact with one another. At times, during the 1960s, for example,
contact was reduced to a minimum. During the 1970s, however, the two
peoples began to mix more freely as their governments negotiated
treaties that made relations between the two states more open. During
the 1980s, although relations continued to improve and contacts between
the two peoples became more frequent, persons attempting to flee from
East Germany still died along its mined borders, GDR officials continued
to harass and arrest dissidents, and the Socialist Unity Party of
Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands--SED) rigidly
controlled political life.

A key reason for the collapse of the GDR was the poor performance of
its state-owned and centrally directed economy. The efforts of Soviet
president Mikhail Gorbachev, beginning in the mid-1980s, to liberalize
the Soviet Union and reform its economy were met with hostility by the
GDR's top leadership. Word of these measures nevertheless reached East
German grassroots opposition groups. Encouraged by the waves of reform
in the Soviet Union and in neighboring socialist states, opposition in
the East German population grew and became more and more vocal, despite
increased state repression. By the second half of 1989, the East German
opposition consisted of a number of groups with a variety of aims and
was strong enough to stage large demonstrations.

The massive flow of East Germans to the West through neighboring
socialist countries in the summer and fall of 1989, particularly through
Hungary, was telling evidence that the GDR did not have the support of
its citizens. Public opposition to the regime became ever more open and
demanding. In late 1989, confronted with crushing economic problems,
unable to control the borders of neighboring states, and told by the
Soviet leadership not to expect outside help in quelling domestic
protest, the GDR leadership resigned in the face of massive and
constantly growing public demonstrations. After elections in the spring
of 1990, the critics of the SED regime took over the government. On
October 3, 1990, the GDR ceased to exist, and its territory and people
were joined to the FRG. The division of Germany that had lasted decades
was ended.